JCB digger thief makes slow getaway

A man from Yorkshire has received a nine-month prison sentence for stealing a JCB digger from a building site in Warwickshire in July.

September 2010

The Sheffield Star newspaper reports that Gareth Twigg, 23, stole the digger by driving it straight through the building site's perimeter fence. Police were immediately informed, and after a somewhat low-speed pursuit located Twigg and the digger making slow progress through Clifton-on-Dunsmore village.

Gareth Twigg, 23, of Maltby in Yorkshire, was jailed for nine months after pleading guilty to stealing the digger from a Taylor Woodrow site in Rugby, Warwickshire, in July.

Twigg, seen talking on his mobile phone as he attempted to escape, jumped off the JCB while it was still moving and left it to the police to jump on board and take control of the runaway digger before it could cause any damage.

Twigg pleaded guilty to stealing the £30,000 digger, as well as to damaging the fence and to dangerous driving. He was handed the nine-month prison sentence and an 18-month driving ban at Warwick Crown Court.